Map Animation

mapman schrieb am 27.02.2011 um 18:11 Uhr
I'm just upgrading to Vegas Pro 10 from Studio.
Excited about it. As you might guess, I use lots of maps in video.

I wanted to give anyone looking for other ways to do map animation routes some tips.

I've tried the old 2 image (one with line one without) wipe deal, but wasn't happy with the quality of the line and lack of flexibility.

I downloaded the latest verion of MapCreator 2.0 free version. They watermark the built in maps. However, if you use the photo tool (designed to put pics at various trip points) and expand it to the full frame size (sd or hd) you can use your own map images. I used a satellite image of Africa, expanded it to fill the screen, then just did my route.

You use "MapCreator Studio" (comes with it) to actually make the animation. But it comes out very good. There are actually lots of things you could do with it. The key is if you use your own image, there is no watermark!

I've noticed that Vegas does not render very fast moving lines or the color red well, so I keep the animated line medium paced and yellow or something else. Best map animation I've been able to do in Vegas. Seriously better than the wipe method. I'm sure After Effects would be great, but hey, this is free!

Anyway, look forward to chatting with yall when I get deeper into VPro.

Kommentare

Rainer schrieb am 27.02.2011 um 20:50 Uhr
Genius. Thanks (I'm actually willing to pay a reasonable price for useful software).
mapman schrieb am 28.02.2011 um 12:26 Uhr
Pretty cheap too.

Seems like a lot of demand for those wanting to make some animated map route but no good tools for Vegas and another even more expensive software (after effects) is not a good solution.

I'm still not through trying to get the "perfect" map animation setup for Vegas, but have tried Prodad and other stuff. Didn't like them, even the Heiroglyph guys are really helpful. Just hated the flow of the software.
farss schrieb am 28.02.2011 um 12:50 Uhr
See my reply in your other thread. Indeed AE would be overkill if all you wanted to do was draw map routes.
I've done it the way you've tried just using Vegas but instead of a wipe I used an animated mask. Very tedious work but I think today I'd do it much quicker because the time I've spent in AE has made me think a lot more about breaking these tasks down into simple parts and compositing the bits together. Still a lot of work but nowhere near as tedious.

For example draw the whole route overlay in a drawing program. Export with transparency e.g. PNG. Then add as new track. Now use masks to cutout bits, say names of towns. Put each name on its own track. Do the same for each map segment. Then use an animated Bezier mask to reveal that segment over time.
Working this way it's easier to adjust the timing etc and handle cross overs.
Now say you've got all that done and you want to zoom in and have the "camera" follow the route. Nest the project you just created into another one and use event pan/crop and track motion to control the camera.

Bob.
Rob Franks schrieb am 28.02.2011 um 13:04 Uhr
"I downloaded the latest verion of MapCreator 2.0 free version."

This program doesn't seem to animate motion like the maps you see in Indiana Jones with the little plane flying the route.

I use Route Genrator. It's VERY basic and far from perfect.... in fact I couldn't get the bmp-to-avi working so I simply used camtasia to capture as I made the route.

But you may want to judge for yourself:

http://www.routegenerator.net/
mapman schrieb am 28.02.2011 um 22:48 Uhr
Rob, after you've drawn what you want, you go to the upper right film looking icon. This is MapStudio. You have to have saved the project. Then open it in MapStudio and you'll have all the stuff you drew on the map, then a preview on the right where you can hit play to see the animation as it is. The tutorial walks you right through it all. You can indeed make an exact replica of the Indiana Jones scene.
dibbkd schrieb am 28.02.2011 um 23:24 Uhr
@mapman - I'd love to see some of your map tracing videos. Do you have any Youtube or Vimeo you can link to?
Rainer schrieb am 28.02.2011 um 23:55 Uhr
Rob - thanks for the link to Route Generator. This works perfectly for me. Best travel animator I have seen. It's so fast and easy - especially with the Google Maps integration. This fits into the "I can't believe it's free" category. Michiel Jansen, the author of this program seems to know exactly what was wanted. I had been using Anime Studio Pro and it's included layer trail animation script, and this does work, for those looking at all the options, but if Route Generator works for you I think you'll be using it all the time. Mapman, I've deleted Map Creator2.0. It worked and has a few extra features, but overall is just old, slow and clunky in comparison.
MTuggy schrieb am 01.03.2011 um 02:06 Uhr
Great tips on some useful tools. I tested them both out but I have to say there are some features that missing to make a decent quality animated line (like shadowing).

I have an After Effects template that I use for a 10 sec length animated line with a shadow that you can match to the line as well. Happy to share that if you have after effects. Just put your own map image in the background and adjust the bezier points on the line to track the route you want. Render and you are done.

I do like the simplicity of the route generator program. If it could shadow the line it would be perfect.

Mike
wwaag schrieb am 01.03.2011 um 02:22 Uhr
I also like to include trip maps in my travel documentaries. I've taken a completely different approach using Microsoft Streets and Trips. Here's an example. [Please excuse the poor quality Youtube rendering. I'm new to this. The rendered files in HDV look quite good, even on a 65" RPTV].



Basically, I create the route map in Streets and Trips, copy sections of the map into Photoshop, and then stitch them together as a panorama (obviously,other tools could be used). At this point, you could simply drop the image file onto the timeline, although I prefer to use an old tool from Canopus--Imaginate to create the movement.

wwaag

AKA the HappyOtter at https://tools4vegas.com/. System 1: Intel i7-8700k with HD 630 graphics plus an Nvidia RTX4070 graphics card. System 2: Intel i7-3770k with HD 4000 graphics plus an AMD RX550 graphics card. System 3: Laptop. Dell Inspiron Plus 16. Intel i7-11800H, Intel Graphics. Current cameras include Panasonic FZ2500, GoPro Hero11 and Hero8 Black plus a myriad of smartPhone, pocket cameras, video cameras and film cameras going back to the original Nikon S.

dibbkd schrieb am 01.03.2011 um 03:09 Uhr
Hey wwaag, your Youtube video is showing up as "private" and won't play for me (or others that aren't your friend).
wwaag schrieb am 01.03.2011 um 03:30 Uhr
I noticed that too, when I was logged out of Utube. I changed it to Unlisted. I think it works now.

wwaag

AKA the HappyOtter at https://tools4vegas.com/. System 1: Intel i7-8700k with HD 630 graphics plus an Nvidia RTX4070 graphics card. System 2: Intel i7-3770k with HD 4000 graphics plus an AMD RX550 graphics card. System 3: Laptop. Dell Inspiron Plus 16. Intel i7-11800H, Intel Graphics. Current cameras include Panasonic FZ2500, GoPro Hero11 and Hero8 Black plus a myriad of smartPhone, pocket cameras, video cameras and film cameras going back to the original Nikon S.

Rory Cooper schrieb am 01.03.2011 um 08:01 Uhr
Draw the route on the map save as a png without map and as Bob said mask it out. very quick
Layer it in 3d comp will give you some angles etc.

rough clip